Yes, we lost, but Stotts maybe for the first time, gave Napier real playing time and played two smaller-guards (Dame, CJ, Napier) the entire game. Napier had a minus-2 points which isn't bad considering we lost by 1 and when he was on the bench we played both Dame and CJ together I hope this trend continues regardless of Turner's injury and when he comes back he takes minutes only from Crabbe who played 37 minutes this game
I fail to see how Napier playing regular minutes is a positive development. How much money are we paying Crabbe again?
So we would go even smaller and be at even more of a liability on the defensive end? I like the energy Napier brought but 2 small guards who can't play defense is bad enough....adding another just seems, well like a Stotts thing to do since he loves going small. How about this? If Napier could really contribute, it would take up some of the slack when CJ is traded away for a much needed big. Also, playing well against the worst team in the league (at home) isn't nearly enough of a sample size even though I like what he did with the opportunities given him. Just wish he was 6'7"
Hey, I can go glass is half full with the best of them but this is really reaching. How's this a bright spot again?
Like Harkless and Layman, Napier is another steal from Orlando. Napier is so much better than Tim Frazier or Brian Roberts. He is a force on offense. I don't know about defense yet. He's not bad on playmaking. I need to see more.
... you didn't watch the same game I did apparently. Napier shot well, but that's it. He was a ball-stopper last night Armon Johnson style. His defensive effort outside of one play against Barnes was just as bad as when Lawson put his ass on the bench on Tuesday It would have been even more glaring if Berea hadn't been ruled out in the 2nd half due to an achilles injury. He is supposed to be a point guard, and initiate offense. Yet Portland struggled with their sets when he was in that role. The few sets that started before 14-16 seconds on the clock with Napier on the court. CJ was initiating the offense. Turner can't get back soon enough if Portland gets the Turner that they've got the past two weeks. Be it Napier. Be it Layman. People hype up players and are in awe of what flashy play they make because it's easy to see. Yet it's the little things that keep players ahead of them in the rotation.
I don't hype up Napier because I think he's an amazing player. He had an amazing senior year in college leading his team to a championship but that's not the point. My point is we NEED that 3rd guard to create a 3 guard rotation with Dame and CJ, ideally we can use even another player to allow both of them to sit on the bench at the same time. Dame, CJ and Napier are all really more or less combo guards. We need two combo guards to make it work
I know what your point is, you have said for months that you base height off of who should play x position. But it's invalid simply because Napier did nothing special or different last night that Layman didn't do when he was in. Napier made shots. Yet the point guard things he was supposed to do, he couldn't get done. So he had to play the off guard, which is nothing different than what Crabbe does. You know, needing to be off the ball because he can't initiate offense. At the end of the day offensively there was no difference between CJ/Crabbe & CJ/Napier at the guard spots. However defensively there was a huge difference between CJ/Crabbe & CJ/Napier. Simply because Crabbe has shown again and again that if he gets beat, or picked off. He's going to get back involved in the play. Napier acted like he paid the 200$+ price to watch. I thought after Napier's pre-season showing it would be hard to keep him off the court in the regular season. I even said it on these forums. However that included him not standing and watching on defense. As well as better at getting the team into their sets. Figured he'd try harder in the regular season being that no one tries defensively in the pre-season. Figured he wanted to show the team he could shoot in games. I was wrong. Napier doesn't deserve minutes
There was only one defensive highlight -- Wes locking up Damian for 10 seconds on the final possession of the game.
How did we come back from 25 down then? How did we get the ball back without fouling with 12 seconds left?
I missed last night's game. In limited minutes, Napier looks just as fancy as our stars on outside shooting and moves inside. In an even smaller sample set of playmaking decisions I've seen, he was thinking well. I don't know about defense. But maybe he sucked last night, I don't know.
I think Napier can develop into a spark plug player...he's quick like Aaron Brooks, he has a really quick release..good for a short guard and he's a decent passer...throws a better looking alley oop than our other guards...he'll tire out defenders that try and chase him around a court. He hasn't had much burn with our rotation players and already he seems more game ready than some of our vets do
It might have had something to do with playing the worst offensive team in basketball missing their best offensive player, but that almost seems too convenient an explanation, so I dunno.
Are you kidding me, why Napier DNP? And our worst quarter not surprisingly the 2nd quarter. Does Stotts make decisions to spite me? He knows I live in Israel and can't replace him as coach?
